Team,

It is my duty to release a statement regarding COVID-19 pandemic and how it will affect us at FPS Technologies, Inc. We have made the hard decision to send our non-essential employees home to work remotely. Our essential employees are still reporting and taking all precautions to limit their potential exposure while working. At this moment, we will take every precaution necessary to ensure that everyone’s health and safety are put first.

Life Safety is an essential business; therefore, we must continue doing our part to ensure Life Safety systems are working and our employees are earning an income. With that being said, the sooner we all act, either by limiting our exposure to others or by taking all precautions with potential exposure, this will get over quickly. At this moment, we will follow the lead of our President, his Pandemic Task Force, and the CDC. We will also heavily consider the Governor of Oklahoma’s requirements and recommendations for when it’s safe to continue working as normal. 

OBJECTIVE

To prevent FPS Tech employees, contractors, vendors, and the community from contracting and spreading COVID-19. 

REFERENCES:

Center for Disease Control (CDC)
Coronavirus (COVID-19)
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-nCoV/index.html

29 U.S. Code § 654 Section 5 (OSHA General Duty Clause) 

DEFINITIONS:

Non-Essential Employee – Employee whose job tasks can be accomplished at home during a pandemic crisis. 

Essential Employee – Employee whose presence and skillset is necessary to report to work on a regular basis. 

Designated FPS Rep – Kris Pettigrew 405-842-8708

ACTION PLAN:

EDUCATION:

COVID-19 is approximately twenty to twenty-five (20-25) times deadlier than the common flu, which is a serious disease with the potential to be debilitating. It is estimated that fifteen to twenty percent (15-20%), or up to one in five, people will require hospital treatment after contracting COVID-19. That is approximately eighty (80) times more serious than the common flu. 

Similar to the common flu, COVID-19 is spread via liquid droplets and close contact with bodily fluids. These droplets are produced by an infected person breathing, coughing, sneezing, and spitting. COVID-19 droplets can travel about six (6) feet in the air before they fall onto nearby objects and surfaces. If the droplets are inhaled or come in contact with the ears, eyes, nose, or mouths, COVID-19 can enter the body and potentially lead to infection. The general rule, categorized under the grand scope of Bloodborne Pathogens, is DO NOT share bodily fluids. 

COVID-19, like the common flu, is fragile and does not live long outside of an infected person and is easily killed outside of an infected person. The COVID-19 lifespan ranges from several hours to days depending if it is suspended in aerosol form or resting on a surface. Example lifespans are as follows:

• Suspended in aerosol form – 3 hour lifespan
• On copper – 4 hour lifespan
• On cardboard – 24 hour lifespan
• On plastics and stainless steel – 2 to 3 day lifespan

The symptoms of COVID-19  and the common flu are similar (and like many other illnesses). Generally, infected people experience fever, coughing, and difficulty breathing (shortness of breath), along with sneezing, after a period of incubation without symptoms. The COVID-19 incubation period is approximately two to fourteen (2-14) days.

MITIGATION:

To prevent the infection and spread of COVID-19, all non-essential FPS Tech employees that can accomplish their work tasks at home shall work remote from their home until the COVID-19 threat has been cleared by the President and or CDC. When appropriate, essential employees may work from home when their job tasks are only that of non-essential employees (example: computer work all day). 

To prevent the spread of COVID-19 from essential FPS Tech employees, all contractors, vendors, and guests are forbidden from entering the company offices unannounced. This information is to be communicated to contractors and vendors until the COVID-19 threat has been cleared by the President and or CDC. A sign will be placed on all entry doors that explains contractors, vendors, and guests are forbidden from entering the FPS Tech office property during the COVID-19 pandemic crisis. 

All business with contractors and vendors is to be done via one, or a combination, of the following means: 

• Phone
• Text
• Email
• Skype
• Zoom
• Go To Meeting
• Other technology
• Special circumstances for essential business can be made to meet on property in a group of no more than 10 people. (See countermeasures section and  hygiene practices) 
• Special circumstances to meet with customers will be considered if the situation is deemed safe. 

COUNTER MEASURES:

Essential employees reporting to work are required to wash their hands and have their temperatures taken and documented by a designated FPS Tech rep upon reporting to work and again at 1:00pm CST. Temperatures greater than or equal to one hundred degrees Fahrenheit (>/=100F) will result in the fevered employee leaving the property for home or medical care immediately. The fevered employee may return to work after the fever has been less than one hundred degrees Fahrenheit (<100F) for twenty-four (24) hours. All essential employees shall immediately report to their supervisor by phone if they are feeling ill and leave the property. Essential employees shall not report to work if they are feeling ill before their shift and shall notify their supervisor by phone. 

Upon special circumstance meetings, contractors and vendors must wash their hands and have their temperatures taken prior to the start of the meeting on FPS Tech property. Temperatures greater than or equal to one hundred degrees Fahrenheit (>/=100F) will result in the immediate dismissal of the fevered contractor and/or vendor. The meeting will continue without the fevered’s presence or it will be rescheduled after the fevered is without a fever less than one hundred degrees Fahrenheit (<100F) for twenty-four (24) hours. 

FPS Employees are not to shake hands, high five, or fist bump and should avoid contacting others employees, contractors, vendors, and guests. 

All FPS Tech out of state travel is suspended until the COVID-19 threat has been cleared by the CDC.

GENERAL HYGIENE PRACTICES:

• Hand-washing: 

Hands shall be washed with soap and clean water at FPS Tech, during FPS Tech business, and encouraged outside of FPS Tech business.

• Procedure:

Turn on water, wet hands, apply soap, rub hands so soap lathers, wash (lather, rub, and scrub) hands, rinse hands under running water, and dry. Over twenty (20) seconds of washing, the friction of washing, along with the properties of soap, lifts debris off hands and water rinses the dirty water away. Dry hands with a paper towel. 

Hand-washing shall be done with the following: 

• Before: 

• preparing food 
• eating 
• touching your ears, eyes, nose, mouth, or genitals 
• treating a wound 

• While: 

• switching between foods while preparing food 

• After: 

• coughing/sneezing 
• blowing nose 
• preparing food 
• using the bathroom
• touching or contacting others
• touching ears, eyes, nose, mouth, or genitals 
• treating a wound 
• touching garbage 
• touching other’s bodily fluids

If hands are not visibly dirty and soap and water are not available, an alcohol based (greater than sixty percent (>60%) hand rub may be used instead of soap and water hand-washing. The alcohol will disinfect and evaporate as you rub for about twenty (20) seconds. Therefore, additional drying is not necessary. 

Cleaning and Disinfecting:

FPS Tech employees shall avoid sharing or touching others’ personal items. FPS Tech employees shall routinely clean and disinfect common high-touch objects and surfaces at least daily or more. Cleaning is generally defined as removing visible signs of dirt on an object/surface, while disinfecting is generally defined as killing most of the invisible bacteria and germs, including those that may cause disease on an object/surface. FPS Tech will use disinfectant products such as Lysol spray (or similar product) and Clorox cleaning wipes (or similar product) to disinfect company property. 

Trash disposal should be done using precaution by spraying Lysol or similar product into the opened trash container. Employees disposing of trash shall wear nitrile (or similar) protective gloves and dispose of the gloves thereafter. If nitrile or other protective gloves are not available, employees disposing of trash must not touch their face and must wash their hands immediately following trash disposal. The trash bag must be tied off and taken to the company dumpster. Avoid standing within six (6) feet of the dumpster for prolonged periods of time. 

Respiratory:

Spitting and other secretions shall be avoided. 

Coughing and sneezing shall be covered by a paper tissue, towel, or into one’s flexed elbow. The tissue or towel should be disposed of into a non-touch covered/closed, ordinary trash container immediately. This container(s) must be disinfected with Lysol or similar disinfectant spray. Employees should wash their work clothing regularly to ensure any potential living virus upon the clothing is killed. 

General:

Avoid close contact (closer than six (6) feet) with people. 

Avoid contact with bodily fluids and secretions. 

Self-check for sickness regularly. If fever greater than or equal to one hundred degrees Fahrenheit (>/= 100F), coughing, and difficulty breathing (shortness of breath), employees shall inform their supervisor by phone, leave the company property, and seek medical care immediately. 

Employees are encouraged to practice social distancing in and out of the work place until the COVID-19 threat has been cleared by the CDC. Social distancing is the practice of maintaining a greater than usual physical distance (typically, six (6) feet) from other people or of avoiding direct contact with people or objects in public places during the outbreak of a contagious disease in order to minimize exposure and reduce the transmission of infection.

Note: One is considered sick until at least twenty-four (24) hours of being symptom-free and medicine-free (medicine can mask a fever or other symptoms). 

Respectfully,

J Kris. Pettigrew